As a Contender for the Lister Legacy Prize, Dr. John Crew Will Describe the Novel Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedure That Incorporates the Use of Pure Hypochlorous Acid Solution With Life and Limb Saving Procedure in Treating Flesh-Eating Disease, at the President's Meeting of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
DALY CITY, Calif., March 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Seton Medical Center announced today that John Crew, M.D., vascular surgeon and medical director of Seton's Advanced Wound Care Center, has been nominated for the Lister Legacy Prize, an award presented by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh to recognize contributions in controlling infections.
As part of the selection process, Dr. Crew has been invited to present his breakthrough technique for treating necrotizing fasciitis, sometimes known as flesh-eating disease, with the Lister abstract entitled "Crew-NovaBay minimally invasive surgery for necrotizing fasciitis" at the President's Meeting of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh on March 21, 2014. The meeting, which is RCSEd's main annual event, will bring together international experts to present work on emergency surgery and trauma care.
"Dr. Crew's nomination for the prestigious Lister Legacy Prize is a well-deserved recognition of his excellent work in developing the standard of care for this disease and reflects the quality of care we deliver to our patients at Seton. It is also representative of Seton's history of developing groundbreaking advances in medical treatment," said Joanne Allen, president & CEO of Seton Medical Center and Seton Coastside.
In his presentation in Edinburgh, Dr. Crew will describe how he treated five patients with life-threatening flesh-eating disease by irrigating their wounds with NeutroPhase, a pure hypochlorous solution, and vacuuming the affected areas using negative pressure wound therapy. Hypochlorous acid, a natural substance, when produced in the body's immune system serves as a first defense against microbial invaders.
Mortality from flesh-eating disease can be as high as 80 percent without aggressive treatment. But as Dr. Crew will describe, all of the patients he has treated at Seton Medical Center for necrotizing fasciitis using this new approach have survived without loss of limb as a result of the condition.
"Now for the first time we can stop the progress of this terrible disease," says Dr. Crew.
NeutroPhase®* Advanced Skin and Wound Cleanser, a stable, pure version of hypochlorous acid, was developed by Emeryville, Calif.-based NovaBay® Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NBY)
"We believe that Dr. Crew has shown that NeutroPhase will be a very important adjunctive therapy for flesh-eating disease," said Ron Najafi, Ph.D., CEO of NovaBay and one of the co-authors of Dr. Crew's Lister Legacy Prize presentation.
The Lister Legacy Prize is named after Joseph Lister, a British surgeon and Fellow of RCSEd who pioneered antiseptic surgery in the late 1800s. The prize is sponsored by Johnson and Johnson Medical Companies.
About Seton Medical Center
Seton Medical Center, a member of Daughters of Charity Health System, is an acute-care, not-for-profit 357-bed hospital serving the health care needs of our San Mateo . We are committed to assuring access to health care to our entire community and especially for those in need. Seton, with more than 430 physicians, offers the most advanced surgical procedures, treatment options, and comprehensive health care services available. Seton Medical Center is fully accredited by The Joint Commission and has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With the Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award. Cornerstone services include The San Francisco Heart & Vascular Institute, the Spine Care Institute, the Orthopedics and Joint Replacement Institute, a certified community cancer center offering a broad array of oncology services, and robotic surgery. For more information, visit www.setonmedicalcenter.org.
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